I forgot to give a shout to North Sails. The UV cover on my jib was shot - the thread had been eaten by UV. I tried sewing it on my heavy-duty machine, but the foam in the luff made it too thick for my machine to handle. I called several local lofts, but they were all too busy to take me in any reasonable period of time (most said 3-6 weeks). So, I asked at Haven Harbour, and they said that they use North. North Sails even picks up sails from the marina, which saved me from having to drive to Stevensville or Annapolis. My sail was ready in only a few days, which is GREAT! I still haven't had a chance to hoist it (something about turning my boat into a "kite" while on jackstands didn't seem like a good idea), but I'm very happy with their turn-around time, and the people I talked to were very nice.

"Next best thing to not having a boat? The knowledge from having one!" Denise, Bristol PA, On Tidal Delaware River, Anchor Yacht Club. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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"Next best thing to not having a boat? The knowledge from having one!" Denise, Bristol PA, On Tidal Delaware River, Anchor Yacht Club. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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I spoke with the marina a little earlier this afternoon. The replacement transmission and damping plate have arrived, but they are still waiting on the heat exchanger and the rear seal. Those are expected any day now. I also asked them to paint the engine for me, if they thought it was necessary (and I suspect they will think so).

The suspense is killing me. I haven't heard from the marina, so I'm guessing that they are still waiting for parts. That being said, the way I found out the boat had been pulled from the water a few months ago was by driving down there and seeing another boat in her (temporary) slip. It's entirely possible that when I head down on Sunday, she'll be floating in the water somewhere.

"Next best thing to not having a boat? The knowledge from having one!" Denise, Bristol PA, On Tidal Delaware River, Anchor Yacht Club. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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Well, no luck. Apparently they are having trouble finding the rear seal for the engine. As a Universal dealer, they have to work through the appropriate channels to find the parts, and that has been dragging on for a while. While I was there, I remembered about the engine being based on a Kubota engine, and asked if they would check with the Kubota dealer, which they agreed to do soon if the Universal distributor, or Universal/Westerbeke itself, can't help.

More than once, I have sourced the part for the boat yard, when they have difficulty. Ironically, they are sometimes limited to certain distributors where they get wholesale pricing or have billing established. You can order retail on the internet anywhere.

They've typically been happy to allow it, because the few bucks they make on the single part is being eaten up with too much research and phone calls.

Once, I had a boat yard swear to me that a part was not in inventory in the entire country, but I was looking at it online, while on the phone. The manager swore the inventory was wrong, so I called the vendor and asked them to verify. Long story short, I had it drop shipped to the yard overnight the next day. It turns out that their outside electronic contractor told them it did not exist, but did not have access to this particular source.

The internet has become a great tool for dealing with misinformation from boat yards. I'm not saying yours is misleading. They did admit they have limited sources, which is common. Yours gets a gold star for being honest.

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